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Matters of Interest¶
Weinstein¶
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, judge clash in court; Charlize Theron named as potential witness¶
USA Today¶
By Patrick Ryan and Maria Puente¶
1/10/2020¶
The first week of Harvey Weinstein’s sex-crimes trial is coming to a close, and Friday kicked off with a heated courtroom exchange between the judge and a member of Weinstein’s legal team, and news that A-list actress Charlize Theron may be called as a witness.¶
Attorney Arthur Aidala filed a motion suggesting potential jurors are unable to speak freely in the screening process given the media attention surrounding the case.¶
“Most people do not speak in front of international media,” he told Judge James Burke. “In order for citizens to be as honest and forthright as possible, we ask that jury selection be done in private.”¶
Burke replied: “That’s against the law! I’ll read this, but I’m generally familiar with this form of the law… I’m disagreeing with you on virtually every level.”¶
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi also objected. “Now they want each person to be (interviewed) in private? I don’t think there’s any precedent for doing that.”¶
In the motion, which USA TODAY obtained early Friday afternoon, Aidala says that Weinstein’s defense has reviewed some of the potential jurors’ questionnaires and believes many are unfairly biased against the ex-producer.¶
Reading them, “we have learned that (1) some jurors have not been candid in their responses; (2) at least one juror has expressed an ulterior financial motive for serving on Mr. Weinstein’s trial and that he would find him guilty; (3) a number of jurors have been victims of or had exposure to sexual assault or domestic violence; and (4) nearly all jurors have heard about this case,” Aidala writes.¶
Burke told the court he would rule on the motion after giving it a read later in the afternoon or over the weekend.¶
Weinstein’s legal team has had little success persuading Burke to rule in their favor. Throughout the week, his defense filed motions to have Burke excused from the case and accusers’ attorney Gloria Allred barred from the courtroom. The legal team also requested the trial be adjourned following new sex-crime charges filed in Los Angeles. All of the motions were denied.¶
The trial hit another snag Thursday when prosecutor Illuzzi suffered a medical emergency – she had something in her eye, according to the district attorney’s office – and was forced to leave court before the third round of jury pre-selection.¶
On Friday, she told the judge she was feeling “much, much better.”¶
Jury screening resumed Friday with 108 new potential jurors, although only 30 to 40 people moved on in the jury selection process, according to a media pool report. Many people said they could not be fair and impartial toward Weinstein, while one man said that he had worked with one of Weinstein’s charities in the past and would be “uncomfortable” if chosen for the jury.¶
Others said that they could be fair and impartial, despite having met or worked with members of Weinstein’s defense and Theron, who’s listed as a potential witness in the trial. “Like a Boss” actress Salma Hayek was also named as a potential witness.¶
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As jury pre-selection wrapped late Friday morning, about 60 women wearing all black gathered for a protest outside the courthouse, according to the media pool report. “It’s not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed,” they chanted several times. “And the rapist was you!”¶
The jury selection process will continue next week, and opening statements are targeted to begin Jan. 22.¶
Weinstein, 67, is accused of five sex crimes in New York involving encounters with two women. The embattled movie mogul was charged in May 2018, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been free on $1 million bail (recently raised to $5 million). He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.¶
If convicted, he could receive a life sentence.¶
Earlier this week, he was charged in Los Angeles with four sex crimes. Weinstein is accused of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents over two days in February 2013. A trial in that case is not likely to occur until after the New York case is resolved.¶
Rosenberg¶
Bankruptcy case could make it easier to erase student debt¶
Times Union¶
By Rachel Silberstein¶
1/9/2020¶
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Wednesday authored a stunning decision that may make it easier for student loan borrowers to file for bankruptcy.¶
Cecelia G. Morris, chief bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of New York, ruled in favor of Kevin Jared Rosenberg, who sought to erase more than $220,000 in loans accumulated during his undergraduate and law school years. Morris argued in the sharply worded document that courts have misapplied “the Brunner test,” a three-pronged standard for determining whether college debt poses an “undue hardship” on the borrower, which is notoriously difficult to pass. “Brunner has received a lot of criticism for creating too high of a burden for most bankruptcy petitioners to meet … The harsh results that often are associated with Brunner are actually the result of cases interpreting Brunner,” Morris wrote.¶
The question of whether student loan borrowers can file for bankruptcy has been debated in federal courts for decades. In the 1970s, Congress exempted federal student loans from discharge in bankruptcy — except in extreme circumstances — amid concerns that some were exploiting the system to avoid repayment. In 2005, the exemption was expanded to private college loans as well. However, there are different views on what constitutes an “undue burden.”¶
Critics say that the 32-year-old Brunner criteria, which originated in the Southern District of New York and has since been adopted by federal circuit courts in other states, has been interpreted too narrowly, deterring most former college students from seeking loan forgiveness.¶
In the last few years, bankruptcy lawyers all over the country have been challenging the exemption, seeking new avenues for borrowers to find relief from crippling student debt. but few have been successful.¶
Morris’ decision is likely to be appealed by loan service providers, but if it is affirmed by the higher court, it could have a rippling impact in other parts of the nation, according to Peter Frank, a bankruptcy lawyer from Kingston.¶
“All of us have been discouraged from attempting to discharge student loans because it appeared that the law was a wall too high to climb for most debtors other than those with severe disabilities,” Frank said. “If the district court affirms Chief Morris’ order, there will be a lot more filers for bankruptcy all over the country.”¶
According to the Brunner standard, to have college debt discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding, borrowers must demonstrate that making loan payments would prevent them from maintaining an acceptable living standard. They also¶
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must show that their financial condition is likely to last for most of the remaining loan period and prove that they made a “good faith” effort to repay the loans.¶
Morris, in her ruling, illustrated how many cases have added punitive standards to the Brunner test not contained in the original decision.¶
“Those retributive dicta were then applied and reapplied so frequently in the context of Brunner that they have subsumed the actual language of the Brunner test. They have become a quasi-standard of mythic proportions so much so that most people … believe it impossible to discharge student loans,” Morris wrote. “This Court will not participate in perpetuating these myths.”¶
Nicholas Biase¶
Public Affairs¶
United States Department of Justice¶
U. S. Attorney’s Office | Southern District of New York¶
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